Naruto: Three in One
by Legojunkie
Summary: In the Forest of Death, Naruto discovers that he is the reincarnation of three different people. Riku, Hope Estheim, and Master Chief John-177.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Hiruzen Sarutobi, also known as the former Sandaime Hokage, the Professor, and the God of Shinobi, one of the most feared and respected men in the Elemental Nations, had a headache.

It started several hours ago when Minato Namikaze, the fourth and current Hokage, went contacted him with a message that his wife, Kushina Uzumaki was going into labor. Normally, this would involve a rush to the hospital followed by a period of pain for the mother-to-be, then celebration. However, the circumstances in this case were anything but normal.

For starters, no one but a select few friends knew the pair was married, or even together. The reason for this was the fact that in the Third Great Shinobi War, Minato had developed an incredible jutsu that could take down battalions in seconds, the key reason the war ended. However, because of this, Minato had many enemies, especially in Iwagakure, The Village Hidden in the Rocks. In order to prevent assassins from coming after Kushina, They kept quiet about their relationship, even when they found out Kushina was pregnant.

The other problem was the fact Kushina was the current jinchuriki of Kyuubi, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, the strongest of the Tailed Beasts. Contrary to popular belief, the Tailed Beasts are not evil, just powerful and walking natural disasters. Kyuubi, for instance, can cause an earthquake just by taking a step or a tsunami with a sweep of its tail. They don't try to, it just happens. Eventually the ninja villages began capturing the beasts to seal inside people in order to contain the destructive power and use them as weapons. Kyuubi was the last one to be sealed, and Kyuubi's capture was accidental. When the two founders of Konohagakure, The Village Hidden in the Leaves, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha clashed over who would lead the village, Madara somehow summoned Kyuubi and used his kekkei genkai, the Sharingan, to control it through illusions. Hashirama used his own kekkei genkai, Mokuton, to capture the beast and then sealed it into his wife, Mito Uzumaki. As Mito neared the end of her life, Kyuubi was resealed into Kushina. Kyuubi and Kushina ended up as good friends, and it allowed her to access its power in combat.

However, when a female jinchuriki is about to give birth, the seal holding the beast in weakens, creating a possibility of the beast escaping, resulting in the death of its container. Due to these problems, Minato and Kushina went to a secluded bunker along with Hiruzen's wife, Biwako, as the midwife and several ANBU Black Ops as guards. The plan was for Kyuubi to suppress its powers while Minato held the seal together as Kushina gave birth. However, something went wrong.

Hiruzen was in his office when he heard that the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox was attacking. Fearing the worst, he headed to the bunker to find the ANBU and Biwako dead, Kushina dying, and Minato holding the boy that had just been born. Minato explained that a masked man had held the baby hostage after killing the ANBU and Biwako and forced Kyuubi out and was now controlling it. Minato then summoned the Boss of the Toad Summons, Gamabunta, to hold off the Fox while the two new parents sealed it into Naruto, unfortunately the sealing cost them their lives, along with the hundreds of victims that died before it could be sealed. A meeting of the Council was called soon after, and that was where Hiruzen was now.

The Council was made of three parts: the Clan Heads (Hiashi Hyuga, Fugaku Uchiha, Shibi Aburame, Tsume Inuzuka, Inoichi Yamanaka, Shikaku Nara, and Choza Akimichi) the Civilian Council lead by Saya Haruno, and the three village elders: Homura Mitokado, Koharu Utatane, and Danzo Shimura. The first topic was who would be the new Hokage, which led to a large argument until Hiruzen announced that he would reclaim the title. Then, after he told them of how Kyuubi had been sealed into an orphan by the name of Naruto Uzumaki, keeping Naruto's parents a secret for the same reason Minato and Kushina kept the marriage and pregnancy a secret, he didn't want Iwa to send assassins, although he did plan to reveal it once Naruto was old enough to protect himself, the problems started. The Clan Heads each wanted to adopt the boy, but Homura and Koharu refused the offers under the belief he should be not be loyal to any one clan in particular. Danzo tried to take custody of him in order to turn him into a living weapon, which was shot down by Hiruzen. And the civilians cried out for the "Demons" blood, believing that Naruto was the demon, not a container.

In the end Hiruzen decided Naruto would be put in the orphanage, and decreed that no one would tell the younger generation of Naruto's burden or attack him for it, breaking this rule would result in death. This was an attempt to prevent Naruto from being shunned due to Kyuubi.

After the council meeting ended and Hiruzen arrived home, he looked up at the skies, wondering what the future would bring.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Unfortunately, Naruto's life was not a good one. He was beaten, starved, hated, and ignored. He eventually graduated from the Shinobi Academy, due to learning the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique) while saving his sensei.

He was put on Team 7 with Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno under the command of Kakashi Hatake.

Sakura had bright pink hair, green eyes, and fair skin, and wore a red qipao dress with white circular designs without sleeves and with a zipper, and tight dark green shorts. She was a weak, die-hard fangirl of Sasuke Uchiha.

Sasuke was an arrogant boy who was the only survivor of the Uchiha Massacre. He had spiky black hair with a blue tint and onyx eyes. He wore a blue, short-sleeved shirt with a raised collar and had the Uchiha crest on the back, white arm warmers, and white shorts. He was obsessed with power.

Kakashi was a lazy man with tall and spiky white hair, and he wore his forehead protector with the left side lowered to cover his left eye, a mask that covered his nose and lower face, and the standard Konoha shinobi outfit with iron-plated gloves. He was always two hours late unless it was important, and was always reading his ever present Icha Icha book.

The trio passed Kakashi's test, barely, but only Naruto took his motto-Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash-to heart.

They later were sent on a C-turned-A-rank mission where they had to protect a bridge builder named Tazuna from bandits on his way to Nami no Kuni. Instead of bandits, Zabuza Momochi, who was hired by a rich man named Gato, attacked them. Kakashi was captured until Naruto and Sasuke freed him, and then beat him. However, his accomplice, disguised as a hunter-nin, helped him escape.

At Nami, Naruto met a girl named Haku, who told him that she believed someone could only become truly strong if they had someone precious to them to protect. They fought Zabuza and his accomplice, and when Sasuke ended up in a near-death trance, Naruto called upon the Kyuubi's chakra and beat him, only to find out the accomplice was Haku. Gato arrived with a mob to kill them all. Mad at being betrayed, Zabuza charged in, and killed a large portion of the mob, including Gato. Heartbroken over losing her father figure, Haku took his sword and disappeared.

Shortly after their return, Team 7 entered the Chunin Exams. After passing the first, written test, the team was put through a survival test, during which they were attacked by a missing-nin, the Snake Sannin Orochimaru. Naruto called upon the Kyuubi's power again, but the snake bit Sasuke's neck, doing something that knocked him out, and used a seal to cut Naruto off from the Kyuubi. However, this seal caused a chain reaction that would rock the Elemental Nations to their core.


	2. Three Pasts, One Future

I don't own anything.

* * *

Chapter 1

Three Pasts, One Future

_Damn it! _These thoughts came from a groaning blonde boy getting up from the floor of what appeared to be sewers. _First that pedophile knocked Sasuke out with a hickey, and then he did something that made my whole body hurt like hell. And then Sakura abandoned me in order to save Sasuke. She even gloated on how she would now have even more time with the bastard. Whatever…Where the hell am I? Wasn't I just in a forest?_

The boy, Naruto Uzumaki, looked around the sewer in confusion. _Hey…isn't that a voice?_

Naruto followed the voices and finally came to a big chamber with a large gate locked by a seal cutting it in half. Wrapping around the gate and a figure within was a bunch of black chains held together by a padlock.

The figure was a woman that had red hair that went to her back and red slitted eyes and a beautiful figure, complete with black-tipped, red fox ears and nine black-tipped, red fox tails attached to her tailbone, and wore a red silk dress. _The Kyuubi? Then that must mean this is my mindscape…And my mind's a sewer…great. Anyways, who are those three talking to her?_

There were three men talking to the Kyuubi. The first was a giant of a man covered in forest green armor.

The second guy had spiked back silver hair and blue-green eyes. He wore a black zip-up tank-top and a white and yellow vest over it, his pants were a pair of baggy blue denim jeans held up by a black belt covered with square spike studs, and a pair of sneakers. He also wore white bandages on his left wrist and forearm.

The final one was a boy with short silver hair along with light blue-green eyes. He wore a short-sleeved orange and yellow jacket with a detailed green neckerchief over a black shirt, and black gloves with white palms. He also wore deep green cargo pants with a black storage pack hanging from a black belt over his left leg, and light green boots.

Naruto decided to speak up, "Who the hell are you guys and what are we doing in my mind?"

The gathered occupants looked at him before the taller silver haired boy answered, "My name is Riku. This is Master Chief John-117 and Hope Estheim, and that's…"

"Kyuubi, I know. She's been here since my birth, although I didn't know until a few weeks ago and only just came face-to-face with her now. But what are you doing here?"

"We don't know." said Hope, "By all rights we're supposed to be dead."

"**I can explain what happened." ** All eyes turned to the Kyuubi. **"You three are Naruto's incarnations, and he is your reincarnation."**

Naruto's jaw dropped, "I'm their reincarnation?"

"**Yes. My chakra accidently prevented you from merging with them sooner, but when that snake sealed it away, it was free to begin the process. Your DNA is now being modified duo to the merge, and you will all have to absorb them to gain their memories."**

Naruto turned to his incarnations, "Well I guess it's nice to meet you, even if I technically am you."

The three chuckled before bursting into glowing white dust that began to be absorbed by Naruto, causing him to black out.

_**Flashbacks…**_

**"So, Sora…up for a spar?"**

_"It's not a question of can or can't. There are some things in life you just do."_

"Thought I'd try shooting my way out, mix things up."

**"…I didn't want you to find me."**

_"Sometimes everything you know in the world turns out to be a lie. But at the end of the day the lie isn't what matters, it's what you do after you tell it. If you work hard enough you can make it true."_

"You know me. When I make a promise…

**"If the world is made of light and darkness…We'll be the darkness."**

_"From here on out I use my own eyes. Think. And act. I might not make all the right choices. But as long as I'm the one who decided what to do, there's nothing to regret."_

"Sir, finishing this fight."

**"No, it's the road to dawn."**

_"Maybe it won't do much. Maybe only one person will listen to us. But even then, isn't trying better than doing nothing?"_

"I need a weapon."

_**End Flashback**_

Naruto slowly got up as he came to, memories of the past filling his head. He cleared his head before looking around. His mindscape had changed to look like the island Riku had played on with Sora and Kairi, Kyuubi and her cage was nowhere in sight. He found her behind the door in the Secret Place. "Well that was a rush. Now let's get rid of an unwanted seal."

He summoned Riku's/his Keyblade and pointed it at the seal Orochimaru put on him. A beam of light shot into the padlock and the chains disappeared. Much to the Kyuubi's surprise, the cage transformed into a collar around her neck. "I wish I could stay, but I'm afraid I need to be going, something tells me that my _teammates_ are in trouble. And I unfortunately need them to pass the Exams. Shame, I'd rather spend time with you." Kyuubi blushed as Naruto vanished with a smirk.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A redheaded woman was pacing outside her house in the ruins of Uzushiogakure. Three mysterious women had appeared on Uzu that day and were unconscious. She was wearing a white shirt under a black zip-up vest with black shorts that folded at the waist, forming an additional utility pocket at the front, a short duster at the back extending to her heels, and black fingerless gloves.

The first was covered in red and gold armor that the redhead was only able to remove the helmet of, revealing long blonde hair. Attached to her waist was what appeared to be two hilts of some kind and two L-shaped objects with triggers on them.

The second had short pink hair and wore a sleeveless white overcoat over a brown turtleneck shirt with a green metallic pauldron with yellow stripes over her left shoulder. She wore a red cape attached to her uniform near her left shoulder blade, a long black sleeve over her left arm, knee-high leather boots, blue fingerless gloves, and a brown mini-skirt over high-topped black shorts. Her sword was carried behind her in a black case that hung off her belt, along with a red pack that hung from her waist and was strapped to her left leg. In addition, she wore a lightning pendant and two black bands around her right bicep. She had been a crystal statue that Kushina discovered a while back, but suddenly it glowed and the statue became flesh.

The third had short black hair and wore all black; a cloak, tank top, pants, gloves, and heeled boots. She appeared from a cocoon of white energy thorns a dark wisps.

* * *

Benefits from his past lives:

1. Master Chief-SPARTAN enhancements and armor.

2. Riku-Way to the Dawn Keyblade, Xehanort's Guardian, and Keyblade skills, many will be Terra's techniques.

3. Hope-Boomerang, L'Cie magic, and Alexander, who can be summoned in his Final Fantasy XIII size or Gamabunta size.

Pairings:

Naruto-Kurama-Kushina-Female Sasuke-Haku-Xion-Lightning-Noble Six


	3. The Forest of Death

Chapter 2

The Forest of Death

Naruto awakened before getting up and checking out the changes the merge had caused. He was now a lot taller and well built. His hair had turned silver. A tattoo of a fully matured L'Cie mark was on his wrist, like the one Hope had gotten it after the adventure to remember his time as an L'Cie. He took off the orange jacket he was wearing and threw it away, leaving him in orange pants and a black muscle shirt. Fortunately, both articles of clothing had been baggy, and now fit his new body a little tightly, but manageable.

Naruto examined the ground for tracks and followed them in order to track down his…teammates. After a while, he heard the sounds of fighting and headed that way. He eventually came to a clearing were Team 10, Team Guy, the Oto Team, and his team were.

Team 7 consisted of Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, and Ino Yamanaka. The three looked a little beat-up.

Shikamaru had fairly long jet-black hair tied in a spiky ponytail, brown eyes, and a pair of small hoop earrings. He wore a green lined mesh T-shirt under a short sleeved grey jacket with green edges, adorned on both the sleeves and the back with a circle with a line through it, brown pants, and blue sandals. His forehead protecter was attached to his sleeve. Shikamaru was a smarter than most of his clan of lazy geniuses, but was lazier than most as well.

Choji had brown hair and swirl marks on his cheeks. He wore brown shorts, a rather long white scarf, a short-sleeved green jacket over a white shirt with the kanji for "food" (食) on it, ring earrings, and his legs and forearms were wrapped in bandages. He wore his forehead protector on his head. Choji was the strongest graduate physically, and apparently had a storage seal full of barbecue chip bags, because as soon as he threw a bag away, another appeared in his hand instantly.

Ino Yamanaka; a girl with blue eyes and long blonde hair in a ponytail that reached her waist with bangs that covered the right side of her face. She wore a short purple vest like blouse with a raised collar, a skirt that was cut off on the sides and bandage on her stomach and legs and purple and white elbow warmers. Her forehead protector was a belt. She, like Sakura, was a die-hard Sasuke fangirl.

Neji Hyuga and Tenten of Team Guy were standing at the edge of the clearing watching. Their third teammate, Rock Lee, was injured and on the ground.

Neji had long, dark brown hair that reached the middle of his back and was tied back a few inches above the end, while two straps attached to a smaller headband underneath his ninja forehead protector framed the sides of his face. He had an impassive face that reminded Naruto of Sasuke.

Tenten, a weapon specialist, had brown eyes and long brown hair, which she wore in Chinese-style buns on either side of her head, with her forehead protector worn around her head underneath her fringe. She wore a pink sleeveless blouse and dark green pants.

The final member, Rock Lee, obviously idolized their sensei Guy too much. His outfit, hair, and eyebrows were identical to the jonin, the only difference being the lack of a flak jacket and addition of bandages on his arms. He also had the same flamboyant attitude, constantly shouting about the Flames of Youth the pair worshiped.

Team Oto was composed of Zaku Abumi, Dosu Kinuta, and Kin Tsuchi.

Zaku had spiky, dark hair and dark eyes. He wore a beige shirt with two black stripes and three prints of the kanji for death (死) down the front. His forehead protector had a worn face guard under the cloth. He also wore a snake-patterned scarf around his neck.

Dosu had bandages covering most of his face, leaving only his left eye uncovered. He also wore a large poncho with long sleeves, a snake patterned scarf around his neck, a straw raincoat protruding from the back of his scarf, and a large amplifier on his right arm for most of his attacks.

Kin had very long black hair, almost reaching down to the ground, tied by a violet ribbon right near the end, and black eyes. She wore a forehead protector, a pale green vest, and snake patterned pants and scarf.

Sakura was injured and dazed as she watched Sasuke, who had a bunch of weird black markings on his body. He had just broke Zaku's arms and knocked out Dosu when he tried to offer their scroll. He then turned to Kin, who was cowering against a tree, with a gleam in his eye, "You look like you could be a fun toy."

Naruto recognized the look. It was the look of a rapist who had cornered his prey. The other teams recognized it as well, but Neji was the only one with the ability to stop Sasuke, but he was tired from beating another team earlier. Kin's eyes widened as a few tears ran down her face.

Naruto stepped out into the light and called out, "You know…I _hate_ rapists."

Sasuke turned to him, "So? I'm an Uchiha! An elite! I can do whatever I want!"

"Unless I stop you." Naruto said, getting into a combat stance as he summoned his Keyblade, the Way to the Dawn.

The Way to the Dawn's blade was a straight, demonic wing, and the Keyblade's guard was composed of one angelic wing and one demonic wing. Also, a dark angelic wing was attached to the top of the blade to act as the teeth of the key. Its token was the Heartless Emblem, but without the spiked bars crossing it.

The others had been watching the exchange, Shikamaru recognized him and was wondering what happened to Naruto, Choji was hoping the stranger could beat Sasuke, Ino was wondering who the hot guy was after her Sasuke love vanished upon seeing him about to rape someone, Lee was praising the stranger's Flames of Youth, Neji was sizing him up, Tenten was eyeing his unique weapon, Kin was praying he could save her, and Sakura was in a daydream about Sasuke completely oblivious to the world.

Sasuke snorted, "I could use another punching bag." The crazed boy charged at Naruto, his speed causing him to disappear from the other genin's sight. But to Naruto, who had three lives of combat experience, it was easy to grab Sasuke's fist and knock him out with the blunt side of the Keyblade.

Jaws dropped as Naruto looked at Sasuke's collapsed body as he dismissed his Keyblade, "You know…if I had known it would be that simple, I wouldn't have even bothered to summon Way to the Dawn."

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SASUKE!" Everyone winced as Sakura screamed at Naruto before rushing to Sasuke's side, trying to wake him. The group of genin, particularly the girls, were disgusted by the display. She was still devoted to him even after seeing him about to rape someone.

Shikamaru turned to Naruto, "You sure know how to be troublesome…don't you, Naruto."

All eyes zeroed in on the silver haired and, sure enough, they quickly recognized him. Naruto, however, just smirked, "And you sure know how to be lazy. It's just who we are."

"NARUTO! HOW DARE YOU HURT SASUKE! AND QUIT TRYING TO LOOK COOL TO TRY AND GET ME TO GO OUT WITH YOU! NOW-" the pink haired banshee was cut off when Naruto appeared behind her and pressed a pressure point that knocked her out. He looked at her in disgust, "Why the hell did I have a crush on her again?"

He shook his head as he picked up Team Oto's scroll and retrieved his own team's scroll from Sasuke's pocket. He then created four Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clones), two of which each picked up one of his teammates. He then turned to Kin, "I'm sorry for my pitiful excuse of a teammate. If you want I can have these clones help you get your team to safety." Kin nodded, while her head realized that it could easily be a trick, something told her to trust him. The remaining two clones picked up her teammates and followed her away from the clearing.

"I know it's going to be a troublesome answer, but what happened to you?"

Naruto turned to Shikamaru with a smirk as he opened up a Dark Corridor to the tower, "That, my friends, is a secret." And with that he bowed before following his clones through the portal, leaving the others to their thoughts.

Shikamaru-_Troublesome._

Choji-_When did Naruto get so strong?_

Ino-_When did Naruto get so hot? And it looks like he doesn't care about Forehead anymore. I guess Hinata wasn't crazy for liking him._

Neji-_A loser is fated to always be a loser._

Tenten-_I need to get him to show me that weapon!_

Lee-_NARUTO'S FLAMES OF YOUTH BURN BRIGHTLY! I MUST TELL SENSEI SO THAT WE CAN TRAIN TO INCREASE OUR OWN! YOUTH!_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto and his clones exited the Corridor, but before they could enter the tower, they heard a familiar voice, "What the hell! Naruto?"

Naruto sent his clones inside before turning to greet Team 8, "Hey, guys! It's great to see that you made it!"

The one who yelled was Kiba Inuzuka and his dog, Akamaru. Kiba had messy brown hair, sharp black eyes with vertical slit-like pupils, and pronounced canine teeth. He also had the distinct red fang markings of the Inuzuka clan on his cheeks. His attire consisted of dark grayish pants reaching to his calves and a grey, hooded fur-lined coat, over a plate of armor and fishnet undershirt.

Akamaru was a small puppy with white fur that somewhat hung down from his body. His eyes were closed, and he had a dark brown nose, as well as dark brown patches on his ears and a dark outline around his mouth. The two were loud and cocky, but were good at taijutsu.

Next to him was Shino Aburame. He had dark bushy brown hair and pale skin. He was sporting a pair of dark sunglasses and a sea-green jacket with a high, upturned collar. He was examining Naruto's new appearance with a raised eyebrow.

The team's kunoichi was Hinata Hyuga. She had dark blue hair and the trademark Hyuga Byakugan. She wore a cream-colored hooded-jacket with a fire symbol on the upper right and left sleeves and fur around the cuffs and hem with navy blue pants. She was a shy girl that lacked self-confidence. She was staring at him with a blush. _Now that I think about it…She always blushes around me…Oh hell. I was an idiot._

"What the hell happened to you?" Kiba exclaimed.

"I too would like to know." Shino put in.

"Let's just say I got an upgrade. So how did you guys do?"

"We did good, but listen. If you go up against that Gaara guy…forfeit. He brutally slaughtered a team from Ame."

"I'll keep that in mind." Naruto replied as they entered the tower. After a few minutes wondering what to do, both teams unrolled each of their two scrolls. The scrolls then poofed to reveal both of their team's respective senseis.

"Yo!" Kakashi said before noticing Sasuke and Sakura's unconscious forms and Naruto's new look, "What the…?"

"I'll explain later, but Sasuke has a weird mark where a certain snake bit him."

"…I'll take you to see the Hokage."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hiruzen took a long drag on his pipe before he began rubbing his temples, "Orochimaru attacked you in the Forest of Death, placing a Curse Mark on Sasuke and sealed of the Kyuubi's chakra. Sakura abandoned you to die in favor of Sasuke. You met the Kyuubi and three of your past lives, and gained the abilities of all three. Afterwards you tracked down your teammates just in time to stop Sasuke from raping the Oto kunoichi while driven crazy from the Curse Mark. You then came here. Is that all?"

"Yes. But Sasuke wasn't driven mad. I've been attacked by mobs enough times to tell when someone means to do something or if they are forced. Sasuke was going to rape her of his own free will, the Mark just enhanced that desire, if anything." Naruto said.

Kakashi spoke up, "Unfortunately the civilian council will call it madness and give him a slap on the wrist. And knowing them they will make me train the Uchiha for the Exams and ignore Naruto. Frankly, I'd rather do the opposite."

"Don't worry sensei, I've got plenty to worry about in order to get to the point I was in the past. And gramps, if I don't make Chunin, I'd like to be transferred to a new team. I've tried, but I do not work well with Sasuke, Sakura is a useless fangirl bitch, and Kakashi is great, but the council won't let him train me as long as Sasuke is on the team."

"I will Naruto. Now is there anything else I can do for you before I call one of my students to destroy the Curse Mark?"

"Actually…I do need a new outfit…"

After talking a little more, Naruto turned to leave, but before he left, he said, "Hey, gramps…Kyuubi told me who my dad was." Hiruzen's eyes widened as Naruto left.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The redheaded woman had left her home in Uzu's ruins to get some food, clothes, and medical supplies. She had gone to Nami no Kuni in order to get a better selection, and was about to leave when she noticed a statue near a large bridge. It was of a spiky haired Konoha genin with senbon needles stuck in his body standing in a heroic pose. The woman's eyes drifted down to the nameplate on the base and her eyes widened as she dropped her bags in shock.

It read:

**The Great Naruto Bridge**

**Dedicated to Naruto Uzumaki.**

**Who inspired the citizens of Nami**

**And reminded them that heroes do **

**exist.**

_Naruto's…alive…?_


	4. Preliminaries

Chapter 3

Preliminaries

At the end of the second test, Team 7, Team 8, Team 10, Team Guy, Team Oto, Team Kabuto (Kabuto Yakushi, Yoroi Akado, Misumi Tsurugi), and Team Suna (Gaara, Kankuro, Temari) were gathered in the tower arena. Also present was several of the teams senseis, the proctor of the second test; Anko Mitarashi, the proctor of the third exam; Hayate Gekko, and the Hokage.

The sensei of Team 8, Kurenai Yuhi, was a young kunoichi with long and black, shoulder-length untamed hair, and very unique eyes that are red in color. Her outfit consisted of a red mesh armor blouse with only the right sleeve visible. Over this was very broad material, which resembled bandages with a pattern on it; similar to those of rose thorns. Her hands and upper thighs were also wrapped in bandages and she wore the Konoha forehead protector and regular shinobi sandals.

Asuma Sarutobi was the sensei to Team 10, and had brown eyes, short, black spiky hair and beard, and whose clothing consisted of the standard Konoha ninja uniform with the sleeves rolled up half way, flak jacket, regular shinobi sandals and forehead protector; he also wore a pair of black bangles and bandages wrapped around the arms of his sleeves and a sash that had the kanji for "Fire" (火) marked on it around his waist, indicating that he had once been a part of the Twelve Guardian Ninja.

Might Guy, the sensei of Team Guy, was unusual. He was a tall man with thick eyebrows and black hair cut in a bowl style. He wore a disturbing green spandex suit, orange striped leg warmers and the standard Konoha flak jacket unzipped. His red forehead protector was worn around his waist, like a belt.

Kabuto had black eyes with grey hair kept in a ponytail and wore circular glasses. He wore a dark purple shirt with a white undershirt and a white obi around his waist worn at an angle, dark purple pants, blue sandals, and a shuriken holster on his right leg. He wore a Konoha forehead protector and dark purple gloves with open fingers.

Yoroi and Misumi looked almost identical, with their appearances greatly concealed by the mask they wore around their mouths that hung around their neck, sunglasses that obscured their eyes and forehead protectors, which they wore like bandannas. They also wore a high-collared, sleeveless, navy-blue shirt with a short-sleeved, white one underneath, a simple obi around their waist, pants, sandals and fingerless gloves.

Kankuro had spiky brown hair. He wore a black, baggy, full body suit with a red and yellow circle on the front. He also wore a black hood with cat-like ears and his forehead protector on his forehead. This hood covered his hair completely. He also sported a triangular face-paint design. He also wore gloves and carried a large bandaged object on his back.

Temari had dark green eyes and blonde hair, which is gathered into four ponytails. Her outfit consisted of a single light purple-colored, off-the-shoulders garment that extended to halfway down her thighs, with a scarlet sash tied around her waist. In addition to incorporating fishnet worn over her shoulders and legs, specifically on her right calf and her left thigh, she also wore her black forehead protector around her neck.

Gaara was a short boy with pale skin, short, spiky, brick red hair and green eyes with raccoon-like black eye rings and the kanji for love (愛) on the left side of his forehead. The boy wore a black full body suit with t-shirt-like sleeves, ¾-length legs, and an open neck. With this, he wore a white cloth over his right shoulder and the left side of his hips, and a wide leather band system over the left shoulder and right side of his hips. With this leather band, he carried a large gourd.

Team Suna's jonin, Baki, was a very tall man. He had two distinctive, red markings on the right side of his face, the only visible part of his head, with the rest covered by turban-like headgear and by a sheet hanging from it on the left side of his face. He wore the standard attire of a Suna-nin, complete with a forehead protector and flak jacket.

Anko Mitarashi had light brown eyes and violet hair done up in a short, somewhat spiky ponytail and wore a tan overcoat, complete with a fitted mesh body suit that stretched from her neck down to her thighs, a dark orange mini-skirt, a forehead protecter, a small pendant that looked like a snake fang on a thick cord, shin guards, and a dark blue belt around her waist that connected to her skirt that had an appendage-like sash.

Hayate had short brown hair and dark eyes with protruding bags. Even though he was a young man, he had pronounced lines under his eyes as well as an unexplained chronic cough that plagued him. He wore the standard Konoha Shinobi outfit complete with a forehead protector that he wore as a bandanna, flak jacket and regular shinobi sandals. He also carried a katana with a rectangular hand guard strapped over his back.

Naruto was now wearing a high collar black shirt with no sleeves, black pants and boots, and black cloth covering his left leg and arm, a pauldron, black fingerless gloves, of which the right also had no palm, tinted goggles, and two straps covering his chest, held in place by a badge in the shape of a foxes head. His spiky silver hair patially covered his deep blue eyes, and the three whisker marks on each cheek looked thicker and more defined.

He had spent the last few days getting in shape and relearning several of his old abilities: three Keyblade techniques and the weakest of each elemental spell set. He also met with a blacksmith.

_**Flashback**_

Naruto walked into a small stand were a blacksmith was selling replacement kunai and shuriken. The owner was a blonde man wearing black pants and a blue hoodie with necklace that had a pendant that looked like a silver orb with a black demon wing and a white angel wing looked up and said, "Hello, may I help you?"

"I have some projects that I'd like you to do for me. I'd like them before the finals, if possible. Here, these are the designs."

The eyebrows of the smith, Cale, vanished into his hair. These are very interesting designs. The first is a very interesting idea for a weapon. The second…your lucky you came to me. This will be difficult for any smith, but I worked on something similar multiple times when I lived in Yuki no Kuni. I'll have it done in three weeks, which will give you a week to practice before the finals.

_**End Flashback**_

Hayate cleared his throat, "Because too many passed the second test, we are going to have a preliminary match for the third test."

"Right now!" Kiba exclaimed.

"Yes. Now does anyone want to forfeit?" Kabuto left. Hayate activated a machine that settled on two names:

Sasuke Uchiha and Yoroi Akado

"Now will everyone besides the two shown enter the stands."

Sasuke was irritated. Some white haired man had removed the mark that gave him power, and also found another seal of unknown origin and purpose. His stupid teammate had gained a lot of power somehow. And now he had to fight some weakling. As soon as the match started, Sasuke ran through hand-signs before yelling, "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique). His opponent ran right into the fireball and was defeated. Sasuke sneered before leaving to meet with the old man again so he could check out the mystery seal.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru cursed as he realized that the Curse Mark must have been destroyed. It took 24 hours to fully integrate to the point where it can't be removed, so somehow he got to the tower before time was up.

Shino Aburame vs. Zaku Abumi

Zaku surprised everyone as he revealed his arms weren't broken anymore, but Shino used his bugs to clog the pipes he used for his techniques, causing a pressure buildup that blew off his arms.

Kankuro vs. Misumi Tsurugi

Misumi could bend his body like a snake and ensnared Kankuro, but his opponent turned out to be a puppet that broke his bones and knocked him out while the real Kankuro emerged from the bandaged object on the puppets back.

Sakura Haruno vs. Ino Yamanaka

An uneventful fight between two fangirls, one for Sasuke and one for Naruto, which ended in a draw.

Tenten vs. Temari

Tenten, a weapons specialist, was pitted against a wind manipulator. Temari won.

Shikamaru Nara vs. Kin Tsuchi

Shikamaru caught her with his shadow and caused her to hit her head on the wall hard enough to knock her out.

Naruto Uzumaki vs. Kiba Inuzuka

"Yahoo! We got an easy one Akamaru!" Kiba yelled.

Naruto chuckled, "Don't be to sure of that Kiba. I'm not the Number 1 Unpredictable Ninja for nothing, you know."

Kurenai turned to Kakashi, "You should have your genin forfeit. He is no match for Kiba."

Kakashi eye-smiled, "Naruto is full of surprises."

Both fighters walked down into the arena and faced off. "Akamaru, you rest. I'll handle this on my own!" Kiba boasted.

"Ready? Begin!"

Kiba charged at Naruto, "I'll beat you in one punch!" He tried to punch Naruto's face, but, to almost everyone's surprise, Naruto caught it. Kiba blinked before Naruto kicked him across the ring.

Kiba picked himself up, "No more playing around! Tsuga (Passing Fang)!"

Kiba launched himself at Naruto as he began spinning at ferocious speed. Naruto was launched into the wall as Kiba landed, "Call the match. He won't be getting back up."

"I take offence to that!" Kiba was surprised to see Naruto walk out of the rubble. "By the way; was that supposed to hurt? Sakura hits harder than that."

Kiba growled as Akamaru jumped on his back, "Let's go Akamaru! Jujin Bunshin (Beast Human Clone)!" Akamaru transformed into a second Kiba, "Gatsuga (Fang Passing Fang)!" The two Kibas launched themselves at Naruto, both spinning.

Naruto summoned Way to the Dawn before calling out, "Dark Haze!" Naruto became cloaked in darkness before he charged at his opponents. The three projectiles collided in an explosion of dust. When the dust died down, there were three Kibas, and no Naruto.

One of the Kibas growled before punching away another, "You may be able to fool my eyes, but you can't fool my nose!" Kiba's eyes widened when the Kiba turned into Akamaru.

"Akamaru! Then you…!" Kiba whirled around and slammed the remaining Kiba into the wall, only for it to turn into Akamaru as well. "What…!"

The first Akamaru poofed to reveal Naruto, who jumped into the air, "Meteor Crash!" His blade began glowing with energy as he slammed it down onto Kiba, causing small meteors to rain down.

"Winner: Naruto Uzumaki!"

Kiba groaned, "Damn it…"

Hinata Hyuga vs. Neji Hyuga

Hinata tried, determined to prove herself, but she was no match for her cousin, who was, in Naruto's opinion, an asshole considering how he kept insulting her and preaching about fate. _If her whole family is like that…then no wonder she lacks confidence._ However, as the proctor called the match, Neji ignored it and went in for a killing blow.

"DARK BARRIER!" Neji slammed into a wall of dark purple transparent hexagon tiles. Falling on the ground, he found the Way to the Dawn an inch from his throat. "You had better hope you don't face me in the finals, Neji. Because I swear I will crush you." Naruto turned to Hinata who had passed out due to her injuries and began channeling his mana, "Cure."

A green glow washed over Hinata, healing many of her more serious wounds. The medic-nins took her to the hospital as Naruto began walking back up to the stands. Neji sneered, "Losers sticking together, figures."

Naruto stopped, "Neji…Shut…the…HELL…up."

Gaara vs. Rock Lee

Rock Lee put up a good fight, considering he had a genetic defect that prevented him from using chakra for Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. He actually managed to hurt Gaara, something that had never happened before.

Unfortunately, this caused Gaara to go into a rage, and he caught Lee and was about to kill him if it wasn't for Guy interfering.

Dosu Kinuta vs. Choji Akimichi

Dosu managed to knock Choji out using vibrating sound waves from his gauntlet.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The winners, minus Sasuke, stood in front of the Hokage and proctors as Hayate held out a box with nine pieces of paper in it, "Take a piece of paper. And read off the number."

Naruto, "One."

Gaara, "Three."

Temari, "Nine."

Shikamaru, "Seven, troublesome."

Neji, "Two."

Kankuro, "Six."

Dosu, "Eight."

Shino, "Five."

"And that leaves Sasuke with four. Alright, the matches will be Naruto Uzumaki vs. Neji Hyuga, Gaara vs. Sasuke Uchiha, Shino Aburame vs. Kankuro, Shikamaru Nara vs. Dosu Kinuta, and Temari vs. the winner of match five."

The Hokage stepped up, "Now, the finals will begin in one month. Many of you showed everything you know during these preliminaries, the upcoming month will give you time to gain some new tricks and come up with ways to defeat your opponents. I wish you good luck!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke was being examined by a tall old man with waist-length, spiky white hair tied back into a pony tail, with two shoulder-length bangs that framed both sides of his face and red lines that ran down from his eyes and a horned forehead protector with the kanji for 'Oil' (油) on it, a green short shirt kimono and matching pants; under which he wore mesh amour that showed out of the sleeves and legs of his outfit. His outfit was completed with hand guards, a simple black belt, wooden sandals, a red cloak with two simple yellow circles, and a scroll on his back. He was drawing a seal to cancel out the strange seal that was on him.

"Hurry up!"

"Hold your horses!

Almost…there! Alright that should do it."

The seal was destroyed and Sasuke began to scream as his body glowed a blinding white. Moments later, the light died down, and Sasuke was gone. In his place was a girl wearing the same clothes. She had long black hair with a blue tint. Her body was well developed for her age. She opened her onyx eyes and whispered, "…Free…" before she passed out.

The old man, Jiraiya, picked his jaw off the floor and took the girl to the hospital.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The redheaded woman was pacing outside her hut. On one hand, she wanted to run to Konoha as fast as she could and find Naruto. But she also had to stay and take care of the strangers. It was driving her crazy!

She heard a noise inside the hut and walked in to find the strangers finally waking up. "Are you all alright? I found you all unconscious and brought you here. Who are you?"

The armored figure stood up before shaking her hand, "Thanks. I'm Samus-B312."

The cloaked girl stretched, "Xion. And as an old friend would say: Got it memorized?"

"Lightning Farron." spoke up the pink haired woman.

The redhead smiled, "My name's Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze."

* * *

Now, before people blow a fuse about Samus Aran being Noble Six…I got the idea from a discussion about Halo: Reach. It came from before Reach came out, and a bunch of people were arguing about Master Chief and Noble Six being the same person or not. Then, someone said Noble Six was Master Chief and Samus Aran's child. So when I was deciding on what to make Noble Six look like under her helmet and what to name her, I remembered that discussion and decided to modify it a little bit. Now put away the torches and pitchforks. Please?


	5. Haku and Satsuki

Chapter 4

Haku and Satsuki

Naruto whistled as he walked to the hospital. He was planning to check up on Hinata and Lee. As he walked, he noticed someone carrying a large sword. A very familiar large sword called the Kubikiribocho. He quickly recognized the person carrying it. "Hey, Haku!"

Haku had long black hair and wore a moss green, striped turtleneck sweater and a split skirt in matching color that reached down to her knees. On the outside of that, she wore a green blue short kimono with white edges, and around her waist a green brown obi, in the same fabric as her sweater, with a fringed trail. She also wore light brown platoon sandals with blue green straps. "Naruto? What happened to you?."

"It's a long story. What brings you to Konoha?"

"Well…After I finished grieving for Zabuza, I was wondering what I should do. I decided to join a village and learn how to be a combat medic."

"Cool. If you want I can escort you to the Hokage, but I want to visit a couple of friends in the hospital first."

"Okay. I'll join you. What happened to your friends?"

"We all entered the Chunin Exams. During the preliminaries, Lee's leg and arm were crushed by a Suna genin that could manipulate sand. Hinata…was almost killed by her cousin."

"Why did her cousin try to kill her?"

"All I know is that there is bad blood between the main and branch family of the Hyugas. But that's no excuse."

The pair continued talking until they arrived at the hospital. Haku decided to wait in the lobby while Naruto asked what rooms Hinata and Lee were in. He headed to Lee's room first, only to overhear a doctor telling Guy that Lee would probably never be able to be a ninja again.

Naruto decided to leave Lee to come to terms with his injuries and headed to Hinata's room. He arrived to see Hinata's father, Hiashi, exit the room. Hiashi saw him and smiled, "I'm guessing that you came to see Hinata?"

"Yes, sir."

"She's asleep right now. And thank you."

"What for?"

"From what the doctor's report, if it wasn't for the medical technique you used on her, she would be in critical right now, if not dead. As it is, she just needs to rest. You are welcome at the Hyuga household anytime."

"I guess I'll come back later. See you later, sir."

Naruto headed back to the lobby, only to run into Kakashi, "Um…Naruto, can you come with me real quick. Something happened to Sasuke that you should know."

"What?"

"Well…it turns out that there was no Sasuke, ever. He didn't really exist."

"…What?"

"After Mikoto gave birth, Fugaku placed a seal on the newborn that caused the Sasuke persona and appearance. The real personality was buried under an advanced Fuinjutsu/Henge (Transformation)/Genjutsu hybrid, watching Sasuke's life from a third-person perspective. When Jiraiya removed the Curse Mark, he discovered the seal, and later removed it, 'killing' Sasuke and allowing Satsuki to emerge."

"Satsuki? Are you saying Sasuke is really a girl?"

"Yes, and surprisingly quite nice."

"This I have got to see."

Kakashi directed Naruto to where Sasuke, I mean, Satsuki's room was. Naruto walked in to find Satsuki sitting on her bed reading a book. "So you're Satsuki."

The Uchiha heiress looked up in surprise, "Oh, hey, Naruto. I'm sorry about how my other self acted."

"Wasn't your fault. I take it that you heard what happened in the preliminaries?"

"Yes. And frankly, I'm a bit worried about fighting Gaara. That sand of his is deadly. And while I have all the abilities of Sasuke, I need to get used to using them myself, as well as figure out a way to beat him. If all else fails, I'll forfeit."

"That's probably a good idea. So you couldn't control Sasuke at all? Sounds like it sucked."

"It wasn't all bad, although thankfully I could 'close my eyes' whenever he went to the bathroom or during Sex Ed. And I was able to affect his actions on occasion."

"Really?"

"Why else would he have shared his food with you during the genin test?"

"You did that?"

"And I saved your ass when we fought Haku."

"I guess I owe you two. You know, I just realized that my first kiss in this life was actually with a girl, one disguised as a guy, but a girl." Naruto chuckled as he remembered the time someone bumped him and he landed on top of Sasuke-lips to lips.

"I suppose your right. But what did you mean by 'this life?'"

Naruto stiffened before checking the hallway and looking out the window. Once he confirmed that the coast was clear, he turned back to Satsuki, "Well…you know how I changed in the Forest of Death?"

"Yes. And actually, I owe you one for stopping me from…well…"

"It wasn't you, don't blame yourself. Anyway, when Orochimaru knocked me out and Sakura abandoned me…Does Sakura know about your transformation?

"No, after some doctors found her trying to pick the lock on my hospital door wearing nothing but sexy undergarments they decided that her obsession with Sasuke was unhealthy and removed her from the Ninja Corps they stuck her in a Yamanaka mental institute. Although apparently, almost all Haruno females go after guys like that. Hell, Sakura's mom kidnapped and almost raped the Yondaime when they were kids, until some of his friends found them and beat the crap out of her." Satsuki said in disgust.

Naruto shivered at the thought of an older Sakura trying to rape his dad, "Creepy. Anyway, after that I found myself in my mindscape, were I met my three incarnations. I then absorbed them and gained their abilities and memories, and some physical changes."

"Wow…That's just…amazing."

"It sure is. In fact, I think my attraction to Sakura may have been partly due to the fact that one of my past lives fell in love with a woman with short pink hair, although Light acted completely different, and by that theory I would have also started liking on Ino as well."

"So what exactly did you get from them?"

"Well…I got my Keyblade and the techniques to go with it from one life that I was named Riku in, he's also one of the two I got my new hair color from. From my life as John-117, I received SPARTAN enhancements and combat training, including tactical training. And from Hope Estheim I gained the ability to use a different type of energy called Mana, which is used to fuel magic. Now that I think about it, they might be passed on as a Kekkei Genkai."

"Aren't you lucky."

"I know, I got quite the upgrade."

"I'm actually talking about the Clan Restoration Act."

"The what?"

"You see, in order to make sure a Bloodline or clan doesn't die out, the CRA was invented so that any remaining members can rebuild the clan faster. For guys, this means they basically get to have a harem, which is practically every mans dream."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I HAVE TO DO WHAT!"

The Third Hokage paused from doing his paperwork. _Something tells me Naruto just found out about the CRA._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Satsuki giggled at Naruto's actions. Once Naruto finally stopped hyperventilating, he looked " her, "Hey, doesn't that mean you are in the CRA as well?"

Satsuki looked down, "Yes…"

"What's the matter?"

"…For females…The CRA turns them into breeding factories."

Naruto stared at Satsuki in shock, before exclaiming, "Like hell they'll turn you into breeding stock! I'll beat the shit out of anyone that even suggests it!"

Satsuki's head shot up, "But…it's the law."

"If it's a law then there must be a loophole. I'll talk to the old man. Your not turning into a baby machine if I can help it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sarutobi had been waiting in his office for the genin that was Naruto ever since he realized Naruto found out about the CRA. And sure enough, Naruto burst in, "Hey old man! I need a loophole in a law!"

"I'm afraid the CRA is something even I can't change, but as long as you pick at least five women before your sixteenth birthday, you won't have to have an arranged marriage."

Naruto blinked. _Not what I meant but that is good to know._ "Not for me! For Satsuki!"

This time Hiruzen blinked. _Satsuki…? Oh, Sasuke's real identity. But why…_ He swore, "Of course, the council will turn her into a breeding factory as soon as she turns sixteen, if not sooner."

"That's why I need a loophole! I refuse to see someone be used as breeding stock."

"What's this about breeding stock?" The two turned to that Haku had just shown up. Naruto quickly caught her up to speed as he realized that Haku had a kekkei genkai as well. _God damn it! I refuse to let the council get their greedy hands on my friends._

Meanwhile, the Hokage was examining the CRA scroll with a calculating eye, before sighing, "It seams that the only way for a female to escape is to be engaged to someone beforehand. I'll have to check the Uchiha Clan archives, there might be a marriage contract from before Satsuki's birth in case she was a girl. I'll meet you in the hospital. As for you, Haku, since you are from out of the village, so until you gain full citizenship, which can only be given after five years of limited citizenship, so if you fall in love with someone before that you'll be safe."

"Are you sure that's all?"

"I'm afraid so."

"…I'll tell her the news."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So…the only way I can get out of the CRA is if my parents set up a marriage contract before I was born? Great…" _And I actually got my hopes up._

"I'll be in the same situation in a few years if I don't fall in love with someone." Haku said, trying to comfort the Uchiha. She hadn't had much luck…she may be kind, but her adopted father was Zabuza. Naruto would have had more luck, but he had stepped outside and started pacing.

"Like that will be a problem." Satsuki said spitefully.

"What do you mean?"

Satsuki glared at her in irritation, "You aren't the first to fall for that blond idiot."

Haku blushed before recomposing herself, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Satsuki chuckled, "Sure, sure…Just don't break his heart."

"What…?"

"Don't break his heart. Or I _will _kill you."

Haku stared at Satsuki before she smiled, "I wouldn't dream of it. So what caused you to fall for him?"

Satsuki froze, "What are you talking about?"

"There is only three reasons a female would be so protective of a male: she is his mother, and you certainly are not; his sister; another impossibility; or you love him too."

"…It was boring stuck in Sasuke's head. My only entertainment was watching others Sasuke interacted with. However, it wasn't all that fun…until Naruto. Where others always did the same basic routine, Naruto did something new every day that usually made me laugh. He'd pull a major prank; drive the teachers and other students crazy, things like that. I started looking forward to when Sasuke saw him. When they became teammates, I was excited that I would still be able to see him daily. It wasn't until I forced Sasuke to jump in front of your senbon that I realized how much I cared for him. Not that it matters. I'm either going to be breeding stock or married off to some clan heir."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto was still pacing outside Satsuki's room when the Sandaime finally showed up, "Did you find anything?"

"Yes…While they were pregnant, Mikoto and her best friend arranged a marriage for both of their soon-to-be-born children if one was male and the other female. Her friend had a son."

"Great! We need to tell Satsuki!" before Naruto could barge into the hospital room, Sarutobi grabbed him.

"Mikoto's best friend was your mother." Cue faint.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So let me get this straight. I'm engaged to Naruto because our mothers happened to be best friends, and he's the son of the Fourth Hokage and jinchuriki of the Kyuubi?"

"Yes."

"…Well it's better than I hoped." _I'm engaged to Naruto…THANK YOU KAMI!_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kushina was headed to Konoha along with Xion, Lightning, and Samus. Each of them had a bizarre story to tell, as well as a bizarre way of ending up on Uzu.

Samus had escaped Reach using a Longsword and attempted a slipspace jump. At the same time a Covenant ship hit her ship. Her ship came out of slipspace in the middle of nowhere and without engine power. She used a cryopod and centuries later the wreckage eventually crashed near Uzu. How the cryopod stayed functional that long? Who knows.

Xion found herself wandering the realm of nothing after her "death" for who knows how long before she was surrounded by energy that transported her to Uzu.

Lighting had been turned into something called a L'Cie, and upon completing her focus was crystallized. She had remained crystal for centuries.


	6. Finals

Chapter 5

Finals

Hiruzen looked out over the Chunin Exam stadium from the Kage box. Standing in the arena with the proctor was the eight finalists. Dosu had been killed during the break. His gaze was drawn to two of the figures that were standing close to one another, the male looking up at the booth. He chuckled as he remembered a certain council meeting.

_**Flashback**_

Hiruzen had just explained the Sasuke/Satsuki identity crisis, and the room was in an uproar. The clans were outraged someone would do that, and the civilians and elders were discussing who would impregnate the girl when she came of age. Sadly, they were interrupted when Hiruzen told them about the marriage contract and Naruto's heritage. Then the real uproar began.

_**End Flashback**_

The civilians had finally accepted the fact that the marriage contract and birth certificate were genuine, but he was sure they were trying to find a loophole. Word had spread throughout Konoha like wildfire, and caused many of Sasuke's fangirls to have emotional breakdowns. Sakura had gone over the edge when she heard, and was locked in a mental hospital.

His eyes wandered to the Kazekage sitting next to him. He knew it was Orochimaru in disguise; Jiraiya had delivered information about the invasion to him during the break. He knew that the bodyguards were some of Orochimaru's elite solders, but he had some bodyguards of his own.

_**Flashback**_

Hiruzen was just putting away the last of his paperwork before heading to the Exam Stadium when the door was flung open and he came face-to-face with the presumed dead Kushina Uzumaki, "You had better start explaining why my son is alive when one of YOUR ANBU told me he was dead, Hiruzen."

Hiruzen's eyes widened in shock when he saw Kushina, but then narrowed them when he realized what she said, "Kushina, what did the ANBU's mask look like?"

"It was blank."

The Hokage swore, "Damn Danzo and his ROOT!"

Kushina swore, too. _Damn it! Minato told me about how he and Hiruzen suspected Danzo was still running ROOT behind their backs. _"Where is Naruto, now?"

"He is at your clan compound training, along with his sensei, Jiraiya, one of his teammates, and a friend of his. Both he and his teammate are in the Chunin Exam Finals. You don't have time to see him right now, but I can send him a message that you are alive and how you were tricked."

"Hiruzen…before I leave…how is Naruto?"

Hiruzen sighed, "I won't go into details, but his life was almost hell on Earth. However, you should be proud of him. Even with the sabotage done in his Academy Years, he is, in my opinion, a prodigy. He learned the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique) in less than an hour and invented a jutsu that can take down me and any other straight male in one hit, although it does make females mad…Anyway, Even with the life he has gone through, he still is a cheerful, mischief-making, goofball whose goal is to make the villagers see him, and not the Kyuubi."

Kushina nodded as she listened, a few tears running down her face. _I swear, even if he doesn't need a mother anymore, I will help him any way I can!_

"There is also one other thing you probably need to know. During the second stage of the Chunin Exams, Orochimaru attacked his team to give one of his teammates a Curse Mark. He used a Gogyo Fuin (Five Elements Seal) to cut Naruto off from the Kyuubi. However, this caused something to happen that should have happened long beforehand, but the Kyuubi's chakra unwittingly prevented it."

"What?"

"Naruto is the reincarnation of three powerful warriors from long before our time. Their names were John-177, Hope Estheim, and Riku.

"WHO!" Hiruzen and Kushina jumped at the surprised yell from the three women who came with Kushina. Hiruzen groaned. _Something tells me I'm about to get a headache._

_**End Flashback**_

And a headache he got. What were the odds that someone from each of Naruto's past lives would somehow have survived and ended up here in Konoha. He had included that information in the letter about his mother, which was why Naruto was staring at the Kage Box, or more accurately, his guards. AKA Kushina, Samus, Lightning, and Xion.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto couldn't believe it. Three people from his past lives were alive, the ones that each of his lives fell in love with.

Hope had always looked up to Lightning with admiration, but as he became good friends with her, it started to become more. After he was freed from the crystal, he kept waiting for her to be freed as well. She never did.

John had met Samus when they were both assigned a mission together. The two hyper-lethal vectors had worked well together, extremely well. They had also found someone that could keep up with each other. When John heard Reach was glassed and Samus didn't make it, his heart had ached.

Xion had caused a lot of turmoil for Riku. On one hand, she was a replica of his best friend that needed to be destroyed so that his friend could get his memories back and wake up. On the other…she was a young girl that he began seeing first as a sister, and then as a love interest. It broke his heart when Roxas was forced to kill her, and even though the memories vanished days later his heart remembered.

And then there was his mother. His mother that was lied to and tricked into abandoning Konoha, and him. He was going to tear Danzo a new one the second he got a chance.

His training had taken off under Jiraiya and Kakashi, and so had Satsuki's and Haku's. The Hokage had told them that if they didn't make chunin, Haku would replace Sakura. Speaking of his new teammates, he and Satsuki and Satsuki had been on a few small dates, and he could honestly say he was falling for her. Haku also cemented her status as one of his precious people the more he got to know her. He had also befriended and trained with the Kyuubi, whose name was Kurama, in order to use her chakra.

"Alright, the line-up has been changed so look her and remember your matches." _The only change is that Dosu is gone and Temari is replacing him in the match against Shikamaru._ Now…Will everyone except Neji Hyuga and Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze please leave the arena."

Naruto faced off against Neji, as the later began to speak, "You should give up now, Fate has already declared me a winner. Even with your new weapon, a failure like you is always destined to be a failure."

Naruto chuckled at that, "Trust me, I have experience rejecting Fate. Besides, this is personal. You almost killed someone who reminds me of an old friend that I saw as a sister. And I am going to kick your ass."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In the stands, Hinata smiled. When Naruto finally got the chance to talk to her, he had told her that he saw her as a sister, nothing more. It had broke her heart at first, but she eventually got over it, and saw him as an older brother."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In the Kage Box, The Hokage and Kazekage turned when they heard footsteps. In walked the Yondaime Raikage and Godaime Mizukage.

The Raikage, A, was a tall dark-skinned man with a large muscular build, with his white hair combed back, and a small moustache and beard. He wore the traditional robes and hat of a Kage, with was opened to show his chest as well as a gold belt with a boar's face engraved in the center. On his shoulders was a pair of black Fuma Shuriken tattoos. He said, "I hope you don't mind me showing up like this, but when I heard about the Yondaime's heir I had to come and see. This is Killer B and Yugito Nii."

B looked like he could be A's brother. He had dark-skin and a muscular body, as well as white hair and a goatee. On his right shoulder, he had a tattoo of the kanji for "iron" (鉄), and on his left cheek he had a tattoo of a bull's horn. He also wore oval shaped sunglasses and a white colored forehead protector. He also wore his village's standard one-strap-over-one-shoulder flak jacket, and a long, red rope belt tied around his waist, the standard Kumo hand and shin guards, shinobi sandals, and a white scarf around his neck. He also carried seven swords on his back.

Yugito was a young woman with long, straight blonde hair bound with taut bandages and dark eyes wearing a short-sleeved black and purple blouse, black pants both of which had a design similar to clouds on them, purple fingerless gloves and a chain of white beads wound around her left hand and wore bandages around her arms and legs as well as a red belt around her waist.

The Mizukage was a slender woman in her thirties sat at a desk in the heart of the Kiri rebellion. She had ankle-length, auburn hair styled into a herringbone pattern at the back with a top-knot tied with a dark blue band and with four bangs at the front, of which two were short, with one covering her right eye, and two were long, crossing each other on her chest, just below her chin as well as light green eyes. She wore a long-sleeved dark blue dress that fell just below the knees that was closed at the front with a zip, and was kept open on the front-right side from the waist down. The dress only covered up to the upper part of her arms and the underside of her breasts. Underneath, she wore a mesh shirt that covered more of her upper body than her dress, but stopped short of covering her shoulders and still left a sizeable cleavage. She also wore shorts that were the same color as her dress and, underneath those, mesh leggings reaching down over her knees. Around her waist, she wore a belt with a pouch attached to the back on the left along with high-heeled sandals and shin-guards reaching up over her knees. She nodded at A's words, "I came for a similar reason, as well as to show that the Civil War in Kirigakure is over. My name is Mei Terumi, this is Ao and Chojuro."

Ao was a middle-aged man with a patch over his right eye. He wore a talisman in each ear with the kanji for a humble form of "to hear" (承) written on them twice on each side. He also wore a striped shirt and pants with seemingly the same pattern, and a green robe over them.

Chojuro had short tufty blue hair, dark eyes, and pointed, shark-like teeth. He wore square, black-rimmed glasses connected to what appeared to be headphones, a blue pinstriped shirt and camouflage pattern pants. Also, he wore his forehead protector on the front of his holster that he used to carry Hiramekarei. The sword itself was wrapped in bandages leaving only the double hilt visible. He also had shuriken holsters strapped onto each of his legs.

The Hokage nodded, "Then you got here just in time, Naruto's first match is about to begin."

The Kazekage, AKA Orochimaru, was sweating. _If these two help Konoha in the invasion, it will be a lot harder to win. I just hope Kabuto can capture the Uchiha girl._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Begin!"

Neji charged at Naruto and attempted to hit him with a palm thrust, but hit a log instead. He activated his Byakugan just in time to see and dodge a bladed yellow boomerang with orange, blue, and red designs on it. "So you are resorting to using toys against me? Pathetic."

Naruto caught his Airwing and chuckled, "I don't need anything else." He threw it again, this time coating it with wind chakra.

Neji dodged it, but it suddenly veered straight towards him. Neji's eyes widened before he yelled, "Hakkesho Kaiten (Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven)!" He began to spin at high speed while creating a dome of chakra that the Airwing bounced off of. Neji cursed, this _failure_ had forced him to use his trump card. This ended now!

"You're in the range of my divination. Hakke Rokujuyon Sho (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms)! Two Palms. Four Palms. Eight Palms. Sixteen Palms. Thirty-two Palms. Sixty-four Palms!"

Naruto was sent flying with most of his chakra points sealed. "Call the match. He won't be getting up again."

Before the proctor could do it, they heard laughter as Naruto got up. "You know…you preach about how Fate controls all. But if you're fated to be in the Branch Family, and yet you've recreated two of the Main Branch techniques, something the Branch Family is not allowed to use. You're a hypocrite."

Neji was pissed, "Shut up! Your chakra points are sealed! There is no way you can win!"

Naruto resealed the Airwing in a storage seal hidden in a tattoo of a fully matured L'Cie mark on his left wrist before bringing his right arm back, "Are you sure? Fira!"

Naruto whipped his now glowing red arm at Neji, firing a medium-sized fireball at the Hyuga. Neji's eyes widened and he only just avoided the attack. _That attack…! It didn't use chakra!_

"Aerora!" A ball of compressed air hit Neji and sent him flying into the air.

"Blizzara!" A large icicle shot at Neji, who quickly used Hakkesho Kaiten to protect himself, only to find his hands frozen solid afterwards.

"Thundara!" Neji was unable to react fast enough to dodge the lightning that rained down on him. He collapsed, paralyzed and with his hands frozen. Naruto stood over him, and before he blacked out, he heard him say, "We choose our own fate, remember that."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Almost the entire audience was stunned. "How is that even possible! He beat a Hyuga that badly!" A exclaimed.

Hiruzen chuckled, "He's his father's son alright. And he didn't even get serious in that fight."

"What do you mean?" questioned Mei.

"He didn't use his armor, his Keyblade, jutsu, or his tenant's chakra."

"Tenant? You mean…"

"That he is the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi? Yes he is."

"…How powerful is he?"

"Now that would be telling."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto forced his chakra points open with a surge of chakra before heading up to the contestant's area. He passed Satsuki on the way up, and gave her a quick kiss for luck. Satsuki entered the arena where Gaara was waiting. "Mother wants your blood Uchiha."

Satsuki shivered. _That's just creepy._

"Begin!"

Satsuki immediately jumped away from the sand that surged forward. She quickly ran through hand signs and yelled, "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)!" She breathed out a large fireball at Gaara, and his sand immediately rose to block it. When the smoke died down, a wall of glass was in front of Gaara. However, more sand quickly ground the glass back into sand. _So much for turning his sand to glass._ _Plan B._

Satsuki quickly made a few new handsigns before clenching her arm. Her other hand became covered in lightning, "Chidori!" Satsuki shot forward and Gaara's sand rose to protect him. Her jutsu pierced the sand and grazed Gaara's arm, drawing blood.

"What's…it's…blood…MY BLOOD!" Gaara roared as sand began gathering around him. In the stands feathers began to fall as people were put to sleep, and the Kage Box exploded.

* * *

Yes, Satsuki's fight was short. That's because she only came up with two possible ways to beat Gaara with the skills she currently possessed. Turn his sand to glass using fire, and the Chidori.


End file.
